EMBA at Columbia Business School: Alumni Interview

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Director of Investor Relations, Stanley Black & Decker
Columbia Business School, Executive MBA, Class of 2009

Kate White, Director of Investor Relations for Stanley Black & Decker, talks to Ann Graham about getting her dream job after her EMBA.

When asked if she would encourage others to pursue an Executive MBA (EMBA), Kate White doesn’t hesitate with a reply. “Without a doubt,” she says. “It was a life changing experience for me.”

White is the Director of Investor Relations for Stanley Black & Decker, a $9B global diversified industrial company. She joined the company in mid-2008 when it was then known as The Stanley Works before the early 2010 acquisition of Black & Decker.

But it was during her previous role, as a vice president at Bear Stearns, that White enrolled in her EMBA at Columbia Business School. “I worked on the credit sales desk at Bear Stearns and the firm closed its doors in June of 2008. I had just started the [EMBA] program in January of that year, so I immediately had the opportunity to put my not-yet earned degree to work.

“I networked and leveraged the career management department as well as my early class knowledge to navigate a career change and obtain my dream job as the head of investor relations for a now Fortune 200 company.”

Inside the classroom

White has forged a career in the financial sector, yet her tertiary education began with a double major in Spanish and International studies with a focus on Latin America, graduating Phi Beta Kappa and Magna Cum Laude from the University of Richmond. “Despite being in the business/financial world since graduating college [White spent four years at Thomson Financial and was a Manager in the Capital Markets Intelligence group doing investor relations consulting before she joined Bear Stearns], I lacked a structured and formal classroom education I felt was absolutely necessary.”

It was for this reason that White turned to the EMBA. “I knew that furthering my business/financial education was crucial to my career, but I did not want to stop working. The EMBA program at Columbia Business School exposes its students not only to world class professors and curriculum, but also a fellow student body of experienced and successful classmates. I was able to attend school without having to pause my career whilst surrounded by some extremely established and successful classmates and professors.”

For White, the best part of the program was the confidence and fluency she gained in all subject matters: accounting, corporate finance, marketing, personal development and leadership and statistics. “What I learned on Friday/Saturday class days could be instantly applied at work on Monday,” White says. “I was able to keep in touch with the ‘real world/financial markets’ while going to school and bring my work issues to the classroom – and was able to get much more out of both.”

A personal network

The advantages of her EMBA aren’t solely professional though. “I made some amazing friendships with some very inspiring classmates and professors,” says White. “One of the women in my ‘study group’ that the program assigned is going to be in my wedding this year - so yes, we’ve definitely stayed in touch.”

White also continues to work with admissions to recruit strong women and men to the program and keeps in touch with professors to speak during relevant classes. As a woman who pursued her Executive MBA, White’s tips for a successful balancing act of family life, career and education include the following:

“A quote I have always loved is, “If you want something done, ask a busy woman to do it.” You will amaze yourself at what you are able to find time to do and excel at,” White says. “In Columbia’s program in particular, you will have a strong learning team to lean on and share the work load with. The EMBA programs help in any way possible to make your life easier: they ship your books to you, tutoring is included with tuition, great food is on the premise and included in tuition – just to name a few things. There were women in my program with children of all ages and even women who became pregnant and changed jobs during the program. “Anything is possible that you set your mind to.”